LheaJLove's 100 for 2016
Conversazioni100 Books in 2016 Challenge
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1LheaJLove
Okay, okay. So I've never actually read 100 books in a year. The most I've read is about 70 and that was way back in 2006 or so. Last year I read 38.
But, I like the challenge! So here goes nothing...
1. My House by Nikki Giovanni ... Poetry
2. African-American Philosophers by George Yancy ... Interviews of Black Philosophers
3. How to Live in Detroit without Being a Jackass by Aaron Foley ... Nonfiction about Detroit
But, I like the challenge! So here goes nothing...
1. My House by Nikki Giovanni ... Poetry
2. African-American Philosophers by George Yancy ... Interviews of Black Philosophers
3. How to Live in Detroit without Being a Jackass by Aaron Foley ... Nonfiction about Detroit
2LheaJLove
1. My House Poems by Nikki Giovanni
After my brother's suicide, I buried myself in my father's basement. I covered myself in the Black Arts Movement. The most important poet of my youth, and indeed of my entire life, was Nikki Giovanni.
At the age of 12, I found My House. Which my father apparently purchased for $2.45.
In this book, I found my favorite lines of poetry. As of 2016, 20 years later, Nikki Giovanni's "Nothing Makes Sense" still includes what I consider to be the greatest conclusion of a poem ever written.
"so Julian bond was elected president and rap brown chief
justice of the supreme court and nixon sold himself
on 42nd street for a package of winstons
(with the down home taste) and our man on the moon said alleluia
and we all raised our right fist in the power sign
and the earth was thrown off course and crashed into the sun
but since we never recognize the sun
we went right on to work in our factories
and offices and laundry mats and record shops
the next morning and only the children
and a few poets knew
that a change had come"
Nikki Giovanni, 22 jan 72
For the rest of my life, I never forgot that line. I never forgot that "only the children (and a few poets) knew that a change had come."
I wish I could write a line that strong. That perfect.
Around 2009, I started having the sensation that the government could access my thoughts (and thus my entire body) wirelessly. In 2011, it was declassified that functional MRI machines exist and are available. Over and over and over, I thought: "only the children and a few poets knew that a change had come."
Ironically-not-ironically, the next poem in the book is "I Laughed When I Wrote It: (Don't You Think It's Funny?). This poem talks about how the FBI came to her 3 weeks ago in suits, quite formally, and she said nothing. Then the CIA came to her dressed as her peers would, talking as her peers would, and offering drugs. Then, lastly, a representative from interpol stopped me in the park, attractively, and offered her the world.
I missed this poem when I was 12. I didn't think anything of it. Now this poem means the world to me.
My adrenals went into their exhaustion phase on my birthday, July 27th, 2007. I woke up one day, paranoid thinking that the FBI and CIA were after me. I didn't know why. I just was paranoid. A month or so later in September, an FBI agent introduced himself to me at a New York bar. Scared the shit out of me.
No one in the CIA, or Interpol for that matter, has introduced themselves to me.
But damn, this poem means the world to me.
I love Nikki Giovanni because it's not all political. The personal is political. And that is what it means to be a woman, a Black woman. At the end of the titular poem, "My House" Nikki says that she'll "smile at old men and call it revolution". And damn, I say damn, that's just how I feel.
And that's why there's a poem called, "I Remember" that I couldn't appreciate at the age of 12, neither. At 12, I hadn't been kissed or touched or fucked or loved. And maybe at 31-turning-32 I still haven't been. But I have woken up in the bed of Black man that I loved and wanted to love and wanted with all of my heart.
I know men like watching women sleep. But, love watching men. In this poem Nikki G writes, "i remember learning you jump in your sleep and smile when you wake up" There is no greater moment than learning the intricacies of a Black man. And thus Nikki repeats, "but you smile when you wake up"
She writes, "i know you cry when you're hurt and curse when you're angry and try when you don't feel like it and smile at me when you wake up" That moment, of learning a man. There's nothing like it in the world.
And that's why I love the beginning of the poem, "Straight Talk" when a woman admits that she's 'afraid to see men cry'. She's afraid, this woman states, because she 'depends on their strength'. And Nikki Giovanni asks, rhetorically, "but are they any less strong for crying"?
And in this moment of reading and rereading, I realize that Nikki Giovanni has single handedly been the most influential writer on my conscious creation of poetry and my subconscious creation of life.
She is a genius.
It is an honor to read her words.
Nikki Giovanni wrote, "when I die I hope no one who ever hurt cries and if they cry I hope their eyes fall out". Thirty years from now, when Giovanni passes peacefully of an age of wisdom. I will definitely cry. And I secretly suspect that a few workers of the "national security council, the Interpol, the fbicia foundation for the development of black women" (that shit cracks me up) will shed a tear too.
Ain't that something? When even your enemies are positively influenced by you.
Nikki Giovanni is a phenomenon. I highly recommend reading everything she's ever written in life.
http://blackbookshelf.blogspot.com/2016/01/1-my-house-poems-by-nikki-giovanni.ht...
After my brother's suicide, I buried myself in my father's basement. I covered myself in the Black Arts Movement. The most important poet of my youth, and indeed of my entire life, was Nikki Giovanni.
At the age of 12, I found My House. Which my father apparently purchased for $2.45.
In this book, I found my favorite lines of poetry. As of 2016, 20 years later, Nikki Giovanni's "Nothing Makes Sense" still includes what I consider to be the greatest conclusion of a poem ever written.
"so Julian bond was elected president and rap brown chief
justice of the supreme court and nixon sold himself
on 42nd street for a package of winstons
(with the down home taste) and our man on the moon said alleluia
and we all raised our right fist in the power sign
and the earth was thrown off course and crashed into the sun
but since we never recognize the sun
we went right on to work in our factories
and offices and laundry mats and record shops
the next morning and only the children
and a few poets knew
that a change had come"
Nikki Giovanni, 22 jan 72
For the rest of my life, I never forgot that line. I never forgot that "only the children (and a few poets) knew that a change had come."
I wish I could write a line that strong. That perfect.
Around 2009, I started having the sensation that the government could access my thoughts (and thus my entire body) wirelessly. In 2011, it was declassified that functional MRI machines exist and are available. Over and over and over, I thought: "only the children and a few poets knew that a change had come."
Ironically-not-ironically, the next poem in the book is "I Laughed When I Wrote It: (Don't You Think It's Funny?). This poem talks about how the FBI came to her 3 weeks ago in suits, quite formally, and she said nothing. Then the CIA came to her dressed as her peers would, talking as her peers would, and offering drugs. Then, lastly, a representative from interpol stopped me in the park, attractively, and offered her the world.
I missed this poem when I was 12. I didn't think anything of it. Now this poem means the world to me.
My adrenals went into their exhaustion phase on my birthday, July 27th, 2007. I woke up one day, paranoid thinking that the FBI and CIA were after me. I didn't know why. I just was paranoid. A month or so later in September, an FBI agent introduced himself to me at a New York bar. Scared the shit out of me.
No one in the CIA, or Interpol for that matter, has introduced themselves to me.
But damn, this poem means the world to me.
I love Nikki Giovanni because it's not all political. The personal is political. And that is what it means to be a woman, a Black woman. At the end of the titular poem, "My House" Nikki says that she'll "smile at old men and call it revolution". And damn, I say damn, that's just how I feel.
And that's why there's a poem called, "I Remember" that I couldn't appreciate at the age of 12, neither. At 12, I hadn't been kissed or touched or fucked or loved. And maybe at 31-turning-32 I still haven't been. But I have woken up in the bed of Black man that I loved and wanted to love and wanted with all of my heart.
I know men like watching women sleep. But, love watching men. In this poem Nikki G writes, "i remember learning you jump in your sleep and smile when you wake up" There is no greater moment than learning the intricacies of a Black man. And thus Nikki repeats, "but you smile when you wake up"
She writes, "i know you cry when you're hurt and curse when you're angry and try when you don't feel like it and smile at me when you wake up" That moment, of learning a man. There's nothing like it in the world.
And that's why I love the beginning of the poem, "Straight Talk" when a woman admits that she's 'afraid to see men cry'. She's afraid, this woman states, because she 'depends on their strength'. And Nikki Giovanni asks, rhetorically, "but are they any less strong for crying"?
And in this moment of reading and rereading, I realize that Nikki Giovanni has single handedly been the most influential writer on my conscious creation of poetry and my subconscious creation of life.
She is a genius.
It is an honor to read her words.
Nikki Giovanni wrote, "when I die I hope no one who ever hurt cries and if they cry I hope their eyes fall out". Thirty years from now, when Giovanni passes peacefully of an age of wisdom. I will definitely cry. And I secretly suspect that a few workers of the "national security council, the Interpol, the fbicia foundation for the development of black women" (that shit cracks me up) will shed a tear too.
Ain't that something? When even your enemies are positively influenced by you.
Nikki Giovanni is a phenomenon. I highly recommend reading everything she's ever written in life.
http://blackbookshelf.blogspot.com/2016/01/1-my-house-poems-by-nikki-giovanni.ht...
3LheaJLove
2. African-American Philosophers : 17 Conversations by George Yancy
I admit: I was a horrible college student. For four years, I never went to class. But, I lived in the Harlan Hatcher graduate library.
The most important sentence I ever read at U of M was, "...however, she never received her Ph.D in the States because her research and writings were stolen by the FBI in 1970. Her dissertation work has never been returned to her."
Honestly, prior to reading African American Philosophers: 17 Conversations, I didn't even know that Angela Davis was a philosopher. I am certain that it was this talk with Angela Davis within this collection of interviews of Black philosophers that encouraged me to pursue a Philosophy major.
While I viewed the Million Man March as a safe space for Black men and not a "masculinist approach" to the salvation of the Black race, I am significantly influenced by Angela Davis as a writer, thinker, speaker and, yes, a philosopher.
One of the most important sentences that I reread now, in 2016, is "Well, you know, part of it has to do with the fact that for twenty years I've been lecturing almost 150 times a year." Because of this, Cornel West is the most visible and most read Black philosopher in America.
I love this sentence, because it calls me out. I am 31 years old and maybe I'm not working hard enough. Maybe I don't write enough, don't speak enough. Maybe even, I don't think enough. At some point, I must decide what I will do.
In college and now, I was discouraged by the number of Black women philosophers who were rather apathetic to the notion of African American philosophy. Some were opposed to the very notion of race.
Leonard Harris, who would show slides of Black people being lynched with blues music playing in the background on his first day of class, said that the Encyclopedia of Philosophy should be renamed "Encyclopedia of Eurocentric Nationalism". I hollered. And, I agreed.
I dream of reading an Africana philosophy paper that does not reference a single white man's ideas. I long for this. I want to believe that it is possible for Black people to think for themselves without a white man over their shoulder, in their ear or in their bed.
I was so relieved when Tommy Lott addressed the "Eurocentric paradigm". He said one day "we may not have to ask Frederick Douglass to read Hegel!" I was only saddened that I had to read 200 pages before a Black philosopher came to this conclusion.
I would love for there to be a canon of Africana thought. Just as there are major Black poets and major Black novelists, I would love for their to be major Black thinkers whose works are taken seriously across the world. I admit, I am tired of understanding the Black experience through Sartre, the Black plight through Marx, the Black psyche through Freud. I would love for Black philosophers to have their own ideas, not just comments on white men's.
It seems as if all of the philosophers interviewed did not believe in a biological reality of race. I have always disagreed. Academics tend to align with the notion that race is solely a social construction. Most support this claim by noting that there is not a single gene which denotes race.
As a physicalist, I believe there is no distinction between social environments and physiological makeup. In addition to the genes which determine physical appearance of complexion, hair, facial features and shape, I believe that gene expression should be taken quite seriously with respect to race.
In years to come, I suspect that geneticist will gain a stronger understanding of the inner workings of alleles. I reckon they will discover how stress and other environmental effects turn genes on and off and how the ability of the body to handle stress is passed down to ones children. In short, I believe scientist can find a biological impact of oppression on one's gene expression. That is, if any scientist gets the funding to look for it.
African Americans are more likely to suffer from diabetes, hypertension and strokes. I do not think the fact that race is a "social construction" eliminates the biological impact of being one race verses another. As a racialist, I think race should continue to be a category of communication; I think that race, and it's biological reality, should be taken seriously, especially with regards to health.
Anyhoo, the point is I love reading the thoughts of African American philosophers. This book has influenced me for the past decade. I'm grateful for it. Africana philosophy will continue to be indispensable to my development as a poet, novelist, memoirist and thinker.
http://blackbookshelf.blogspot.com/2016/01/2-african-american-philosophers-17.ht...
I admit: I was a horrible college student. For four years, I never went to class. But, I lived in the Harlan Hatcher graduate library.
The most important sentence I ever read at U of M was, "...however, she never received her Ph.D in the States because her research and writings were stolen by the FBI in 1970. Her dissertation work has never been returned to her."
Honestly, prior to reading African American Philosophers: 17 Conversations, I didn't even know that Angela Davis was a philosopher. I am certain that it was this talk with Angela Davis within this collection of interviews of Black philosophers that encouraged me to pursue a Philosophy major.
While I viewed the Million Man March as a safe space for Black men and not a "masculinist approach" to the salvation of the Black race, I am significantly influenced by Angela Davis as a writer, thinker, speaker and, yes, a philosopher.
One of the most important sentences that I reread now, in 2016, is "Well, you know, part of it has to do with the fact that for twenty years I've been lecturing almost 150 times a year." Because of this, Cornel West is the most visible and most read Black philosopher in America.
I love this sentence, because it calls me out. I am 31 years old and maybe I'm not working hard enough. Maybe I don't write enough, don't speak enough. Maybe even, I don't think enough. At some point, I must decide what I will do.
In college and now, I was discouraged by the number of Black women philosophers who were rather apathetic to the notion of African American philosophy. Some were opposed to the very notion of race.
Leonard Harris, who would show slides of Black people being lynched with blues music playing in the background on his first day of class, said that the Encyclopedia of Philosophy should be renamed "Encyclopedia of Eurocentric Nationalism". I hollered. And, I agreed.
I dream of reading an Africana philosophy paper that does not reference a single white man's ideas. I long for this. I want to believe that it is possible for Black people to think for themselves without a white man over their shoulder, in their ear or in their bed.
I was so relieved when Tommy Lott addressed the "Eurocentric paradigm". He said one day "we may not have to ask Frederick Douglass to read Hegel!" I was only saddened that I had to read 200 pages before a Black philosopher came to this conclusion.
I would love for there to be a canon of Africana thought. Just as there are major Black poets and major Black novelists, I would love for their to be major Black thinkers whose works are taken seriously across the world. I admit, I am tired of understanding the Black experience through Sartre, the Black plight through Marx, the Black psyche through Freud. I would love for Black philosophers to have their own ideas, not just comments on white men's.
It seems as if all of the philosophers interviewed did not believe in a biological reality of race. I have always disagreed. Academics tend to align with the notion that race is solely a social construction. Most support this claim by noting that there is not a single gene which denotes race.
As a physicalist, I believe there is no distinction between social environments and physiological makeup. In addition to the genes which determine physical appearance of complexion, hair, facial features and shape, I believe that gene expression should be taken quite seriously with respect to race.
In years to come, I suspect that geneticist will gain a stronger understanding of the inner workings of alleles. I reckon they will discover how stress and other environmental effects turn genes on and off and how the ability of the body to handle stress is passed down to ones children. In short, I believe scientist can find a biological impact of oppression on one's gene expression. That is, if any scientist gets the funding to look for it.
African Americans are more likely to suffer from diabetes, hypertension and strokes. I do not think the fact that race is a "social construction" eliminates the biological impact of being one race verses another. As a racialist, I think race should continue to be a category of communication; I think that race, and it's biological reality, should be taken seriously, especially with regards to health.
Anyhoo, the point is I love reading the thoughts of African American philosophers. This book has influenced me for the past decade. I'm grateful for it. Africana philosophy will continue to be indispensable to my development as a poet, novelist, memoirist and thinker.
http://blackbookshelf.blogspot.com/2016/01/2-african-american-philosophers-17.ht...
4LheaJLove
3. How to Live in Detroit without Being a Jackass by Aaron Foley
Let me tell you, I love this man. I laughed out loud, literally out loud, throughout every chapter of this book. Aaron Foley has the sense of humor I wish I had; he is the writer I long to be.
I'm biased. I've been following Aaron Foley for years. We went to school together. I've been in the background rooting for him for the last decade. I was thrilled when he worked an internship at VIBE; I was impressed and elated and proud when his words were published by Atlantic Monthly.
And you know what? Aaron taught me a few things.
Let me tell you, I could not have written "How to Live in Detroit without Being a Jackass". Yes, #ImsoDetroit... but I've never heard of the Marche du Nain Rouge, I didn't know what Langston Hughes said about the Gotham Hotel and I couldn't tell you a "Cape Cod" from a "Colonial. And I definitely couldn't tell you which neighborhood to purchase one.
Reading this book, I realized that I am definitely one of those artsy Detroiters who you shouldn't dare telling that you don't think Tyree Guyton's Heidelberg Project is art.
Reading this book, I realized that I long to be what Foley deems the "Hippie Granny". Yes, the one that "loves granola and New Age healing..." that maybe runs a book club or a yoga group or a newsletter detailing all of the injustices going on in the world. And of course, my family is all "Conspiracy Theorists", "Revolutionaries" and "Farmers".
Aaron Foley was on it! He described us to a t.
I'm glad that Foley mentioned Kilpatrick, Monica Conyers, Coleman Young, Vincent Chin and Grace Lee Boggs. And clearly, not in the same breath. Foley captured the essence of Detroit in a single book. You'll laugh and reminisce if you are "Old Detroit" and you'll take notes if you are "New Detroit".
Please buy this book for your own reference. And please, buy a second copy for a friend.
http://blackbookshelf.blogspot.com/2016/01/3-how-to-live-in-detroit-without-bein...
Let me tell you, I love this man. I laughed out loud, literally out loud, throughout every chapter of this book. Aaron Foley has the sense of humor I wish I had; he is the writer I long to be.
I'm biased. I've been following Aaron Foley for years. We went to school together. I've been in the background rooting for him for the last decade. I was thrilled when he worked an internship at VIBE; I was impressed and elated and proud when his words were published by Atlantic Monthly.
And you know what? Aaron taught me a few things.
Let me tell you, I could not have written "How to Live in Detroit without Being a Jackass". Yes, #ImsoDetroit... but I've never heard of the Marche du Nain Rouge, I didn't know what Langston Hughes said about the Gotham Hotel and I couldn't tell you a "Cape Cod" from a "Colonial. And I definitely couldn't tell you which neighborhood to purchase one.
Reading this book, I realized that I am definitely one of those artsy Detroiters who you shouldn't dare telling that you don't think Tyree Guyton's Heidelberg Project is art.
Reading this book, I realized that I long to be what Foley deems the "Hippie Granny". Yes, the one that "loves granola and New Age healing..." that maybe runs a book club or a yoga group or a newsletter detailing all of the injustices going on in the world. And of course, my family is all "Conspiracy Theorists", "Revolutionaries" and "Farmers".
Aaron Foley was on it! He described us to a t.
I'm glad that Foley mentioned Kilpatrick, Monica Conyers, Coleman Young, Vincent Chin and Grace Lee Boggs. And clearly, not in the same breath. Foley captured the essence of Detroit in a single book. You'll laugh and reminisce if you are "Old Detroit" and you'll take notes if you are "New Detroit".
Please buy this book for your own reference. And please, buy a second copy for a friend.
http://blackbookshelf.blogspot.com/2016/01/3-how-to-live-in-detroit-without-bein...
5wookiebender
I know very little about Detroit, but that sounds like a great book! I'll keep an eye open for it, thanks!
